Portable Electronic Device (PED) Case, Method, and Applications

ABSTRACT

A case for a portable electronic device (PED), the PED having a back side, a display side, and at least one digital imaging device, including a base panel having a front and a back surface and sides attached to a perimeter of the base panel, and a note-recording medium, wherein the note-recording medium is removeably attachable to the case, wherein the note-recording medium has a first surface and an opposing second surface, at least one of which can receive a written indicia, further wherein in an attached mode, one of the first and the second surface of the note-recording medium against the back surface of the case and the other side is exposed in a manner to receive the written indicia.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/125,655, filed Jan. 28, 2015, the subject matter of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Aspects and embodiments of the invention relate generally to cases for portable electronic devices (PEDs), and more specifically, to case accessories for portable electronic devices.

Portable electronic devices (PEDs), including smartphones, tablet computers, notebooks, media players, and portable digital assistants, are ubiquitous in today's society. PEDs are used in multiple environments, such as in classrooms, outdoors in cities, at home, during travel, at the gym, and other locations, which may cause harm to the PDA exterior. As such, many types of cases have been designed to cover PEDs, including silica-gel sleeves, shock-proof packages, leather sleeves, and plastic sleeves, to name a few.

It is common to use the PED case to protect the device from minor damage, such as brushing against a rough surface or falling from a small height. It is also becoming increasingly common to provide additional functionality to the case, in order to differentiate a product from its competitors. Typically, combination cases include a thicker shock-proof case, water-proofing, a pocket-compartment to hold flat goods such as credit cards and paper monies, and more. However, commercially available cases are unable to provide the additional functionality of securely storing a removable note-taking medium, allowing easy access to the removable note-taking medium, and protecting the removable note-taking medium from outside forces.

Examples of PED case accessories that are representative of the state of the art are disclosed in US patent application No. 2002/0089817 to Eisenbraun, U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,347 to Shink, U.S. Pat. No. D438,564 to Green, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,718 to Chareas. Green discloses a design for a combination cellphone pen and pen holder. Eisenbraun describes a protective cover for a keypad. Shink discloses an organizer that can store a cellphone, pen, notepad, and calculator. Chareas discloses a sliding tray that encloses a memo pad and a writing implement that is attached to the back of a cellular phone.

Existing products such as the Livescribe® Echo™ smart pen uses a Bluetooth connection to the phone and specialty paper to record the position of a pen to the phone or tablet. Such devices necessitate the use of electronics for note-taking, which consumes battery power and requires additional accessories that may burden the user.

Several cases for PEDs have been made out of dry erase materials, such as the Erase Case. These cases integrate whiteboards into the frame of the case itself, preventing them from being removed and imaged without removing the PED from the case. Current whiteboard cases require the user to write directly onto the case. To acquire an image of the whiteboard, the PED must be removed from the case, which may damage the case and is inconvenient. Current whiteboard cases also allow the user's hand to rest on the whiteboard surface while using the device. This can cause residue from the markers to get on the user's hand and/or smudge the written indicia on the whiteboard surface.

In view of these and other shortcomings in the art, it would be advantageous to provide a case for a PED that contains a removeably attachable note-recording medium. It would be further advantageous to provide such a note-recording medium that is removeably attachable to either or both of the display side of the PED and the back side of the PED. Further advantages would be provided by such a note-recording medium that could be imaged by the PED digital imaging device (camera). It would also be beneficial if the note-recording medium, in the attached mode, were protected from smudging caused by the user's hand and/or other external stimulus.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the invention is a case for a portable electronic device (PED), the PED having a back side, a display side, and at least one digital imaging device. In an embodiment, the case includes a base panel having a front and a back surface and sides attached to a perimeter of the base panel, wherein the front surface of the base panel is adapted to engage the back side of the PED and the sides are adapted to engage a perimeter of the PED, and a note-recording medium, wherein the note-recording medium is remove ably attachable to the case, further wherein the note-recording medium has a first surface and an opposing second surface, at least one of which can receive a written indicia, further wherein in an attached mode, one of the first and the second surface of the note-recording medium is disposed adjacent the back surface of the case and the other of the first and the second surface of the note-recording medium is exposed in a manner to receive the written indicia. Various aspects and embodiment may include one or more of the following features, limitations, components, or characteristics, alone or in various combinations:

wherein the back side of the base panel includes two or more guide rails and the removeably attachable note-recording medium is slidably engageable with the two or more guide rails;

-   -   wherein at last one of the at least two guide rails has an         end-stop;

wherein the note-recording medium is reusable and washable;

further comprising a removeably attachable protective panel configured to cover at least 50% of the exposed surface of the note-recording medium when both are in an attached mode;

wherein the note-recording medium covers at least 75% of the surface area of the back side of the base panel in the attached mode;

further comprising a hook and a loop fastener respectively connected to the case and the note-recording medium;

wherein the case and the note-recording medium respectively contain a magnetic material for magnetically attaching the note-recording medium to the case;

wherein the case and the note-recording medium respectively include one or more snap-fit buttons for attaching the note-recording medium to the case;

wherein the note-recording medium has marker indicia that identify a note-recording region on the note-recording medium.

An embodiment of the invention is a case to receive a portable electronic device, the portable electronic device having a back side, a display side, and at least one digital imaging device, the case comprising a base panel on a portable electronic device and a noting panel, wherein the base panel includes side panels receiving the portable electronic device, and a back panel with the inside of the back panel receiving the back side of the portable electronic device and the outside of the back panel facing away from the portable electronic device; a noting panel removeably attached to the case, configured to have an attached and a detached mode, the noting panel including, a first surface, capable of accepting writing, a second surface on the other side of the first surface, wherein in the attached mode, the noting panel is securely attached to the case and is located on the display side of the portable electronic device, and wherein in the detached mode, the first surface is exposed and able to accept noting and image capture from the at least one digital imaging device. Various aspects and embodiment may include one or more of the following features, limitations, components, or characteristics, alone or in various combinations:

wherein the removeably attached noting panel is slidably attached to the back outside of the base panel of the case with two or more guide rails, wherein at least two of the at least two guide rails are attached to the base panel and are at or nearly parallel to each other to allow for the noting panel to be in an attached and detached mode;

-   -   wherein one end of the at last two of the at least two guide         rails have an end-stop to stop the noting panel from moving         further in a planar direction;

wherein the first surface of the noting panel is capable of accepting noting in the attached mode;

wherein the second surface of the noting panel is capable of accepting writing;

wherein the noting panel is reusable and washable;

the case further containing a protective layer covering 50% or more of the removable noting panel;

wherein the noting panel covers at least 75% of the surface area of the back side or display side of the portable electronic device;

wherein the noting panel is attached to the case with hook and loop fasteners, the fastener halves being attached to the noting panel and to the case;

wherein the case contains magnetic material and the noting panel is magnetically attached to the case;

wherein the noting panel contains one or more snap-fit buttons and is attached to the case with snap-fit buttons attached to the case;

wherein the noting panel has marker indicia that a digital camera can recognize to capture the boundary of drawings encompassed by the noting panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded schematic view of a PED, PED case, and a note-recording medium, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded schematic view of the note-recording medium in the detached mode facing the digital imaging device aperture in the PED case (i.e., facing the backside of the case), according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the backside of the case with the note-recording medium in the attached mode and with an optional protective shield installed, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the PED case including guide rails for attaching the note-recording medium to the case, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross sectional view of the PED case further illustrating a guide rail, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6A is a schematic perspective view of the front (display) side of the PED case with the note-recording medium attached; FIG. 6B shows the note-recording medium detached.

FIG. 7 is a schematic rear perspective view of the back side of the PED case with an optional protective sheet installed on the back of the case, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic rear plan view of the PED case with an optional protective sheet and an aid hole and cutout, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the PED case with an optional front cover which includes the removable noting surface in an open state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF NON-LIMITING EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In all the drawings, the thickness of the lines, layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be either directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element, there are no intermediate elements present. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “attached” to another element, it can be directly connected or attached to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly attached” to another element, there are no intermediate elements present.

Embodiments of a PED case with a note-taking medium in stowage and in note-taking positions are disclosed herein. The case may be referred to as a sleeve, holder, mount, cover, and the like and, as used herein, does not necessarily imply an encasing. The PED may be any portable electronic device having a digital imagining device including, for example, a smartphone (e.g., the Apple® iPhone™ and the Samsung® Galaxy® smartphone), a tablet computer (e.g., the Apple® iPad™ and Samsung® Galaxy™ Tablet), and/or an electronic book reader (e.g., the Amazon® Kindle Fire™ or PocketBook® Ultra).

In some embodiments, the case may be configured such that the display, user input, digital imagining device (e.g. a camera lens), and other data input/output ports are accessible by a user of the PED while the PED is disposed in the case.

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a case 100 that can be used to assist in viewing the PED 105. The case 100 includes a base (rear side) panel 102 and side panels 104. The base panel 102 may be sized to cover the back side of PED 105. Also illustrated is a note-recording medium 125, which is removeably attachable to the case.

In some embodiments, the case 100 can be made of any material or materials that are suitable for holding the PED 105 in place. The material(s) may consist of rubber or other elastomeric material (e.g., silicone), and/or rigid materials (e.g., plastic, metal, and the like). In some embodiments, the case 100 may include metals and/or magnetic material to hold the note-recording medium 125 and/or a protective sheet 130 (see FIG. 7) in place.

The PED 105 has a display side 106 (see FIG. 6A) that is viewable in either a portrait or a landscape orientation, a user input (not shown), and a data input/output port (not shown). The PED 105 has at least one digital imaging device 110 (see FIG. 8), commonly known as a camera, that can be found on the display side or the back side 107 of the PED.

In some embodiments, the case 100 can be configured to include an opening 103 on the base panel 102 of the case 100, positioned to allow a rear-mounted digital imaging device 110 to have an unobstructed view when the case 100 receives the PED 105.

The note taking medium 125 is removeably attached to the case 100 by any means that will allow it to be easily removed and reattached to the case 100, including, but are not limited to guide rails to slide the note taking medium 125 into an attached position; hook and loop fasteners (e.g. VELCRO®) to stick the note taking medium 125 into an attached position; snap-fit buttons; magnets; sticky glue (e.g. POST-IT® sticky notes); and others known in the art.

FIGS. 4-5 illustrate an aspect of the case 100 including sliders 120 (also commonly known as guide rails) that are at or nearly parallel to each other, and are used to hold note taking medium 125 in place. In certain embodiments, the slider 120 can have a lip 122 and a vertical part of a slider 123 to both guide the note taking medium 125 and secure the note taking medium 125 from falling out of place. In certain other embodiments, the slider 120 can have an end-stop 124 on one of the ends of the slider 120 to prevent the note taking medium 125 from moving in a planar direction.

FIG. 6B illustrates one embodiment of the case 100 with the note taking medium 125 in a detached mode. The note taking medium 125 can have a first surface 126 and a second surface 127, the second surface being on the opposite side of the first surface. In certain embodiments, the note taking medium 125 is reusable. In other embodiments, the note taking medium 125 is disposable. In some embodiments, the note taking medium may cover 75% or more of surface area of one of the sides of the PED 105. The note taking medium 125 may be any material capable of accepting indicia, including but not limited to paper, flexible plastic, white board, metal, chalkboard, glass, acrylic. The note taking medium 125 may be rigid or flexible. The note taking medium 125 can be of any shape, however, it is advantageously rectangular or square.

In some embodiments, the first surface 126 may include a writing surface, such as a white board, paper, or other surface capable of accepting indicia. In other embodiments, the second surface 127 may be writeable (i.e., capable of accepting indicia). In other embodiments, the second surface 127 may not be writeable.

In some embodiments, the first surface 126 may have markers 133 on it to allow the digital imaging device to capture the text between the boundary markers. In other embodiments, the markers may be on the first surface 126 and second surface 127. In some embodiments, the second surface 127 may have patterns, such as decorative dots, calendar dates, check-box to-do lists, and/or promotional indicia. In other embodiments, the second surface 127 may not have patterns.

FIGS. 7-8 illustrate an embodiment of the note taking medium 125 that may include a protective cover 130 that covers the note taking medium and protects all or part of the surface facing it (either surface 126 or surface 127). In certain embodiments, the protective cover 130 can be part of the case 100. In other embodiments, the protective cover 130 can be slidably attached to sliders 120. The protective cover 130 may have an aid hole 131 to allow the note taking medium 125 to be touched and to slide from an attached to a detached mode. In other embodiments, the protective cover 130 can be a separate medium located on top of the noting panel 125. In other embodiments, the protective cover 130 may have additional aid holes (not shown) or one or more cutouts 132. Cutout or cutouts 132 can be of any shape and may be positioned anywhere on the protective cover 130.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of the note taking medium 125 in which it is attached to a cover 134 for the case 100. When the cover 134 is open, the note taking medium 125 is on the same side as the display side of the PED 106. The cover 134 is attached to the case 100 by a flexible connection 135 which allows the cover 134 to change from a closed state to an open state, and degrees of open and closed in-between.

In some embodiments, the protective cover 130 may have holes and/or cutouts beyond the aid hole 131, and they may be for aesthetic or utility purposes. In some embodiments, the holes and/or cutouts may be small enough that when the protective cover 130 is in contact with the note taking medium 125, the note taking medium cannot deform into the holes and/or smudge the writing on the writing sheet. The size and position of aid hole 131 and optional additional aid holes or cutouts 132 may depend on the nature of the note taking medium surface, the material the notes made upon it consist of, and the thickness of the protective cover.

In some embodiments, the protective cover 130 may cover 50% or more of the note taking medium to protect it from normal wear and tear. In some embodiments, the protective cover 130 may be of arbitrary shape, and can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical.

In some embodiments, the note taking medium 125 may be disposable, and the writing permanent, and the holes may be of any arbitrary size. In some embodiments, the notes deposited on the surface of the note taking medium 125 may be easily removed or erased, and the aid hole 131, cutout 132, optional additional holes, and/or optional additional cutouts may be thick enough and/or small enough to prevent human skin from deforming over the top of the holes and onto the noting surface 126 and/or 127.

While several inventive embodiments have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the function and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments described herein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the inventive teachings is/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Inventive embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the inventive scope of the present disclosure.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with “and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when used in the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or” as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at least one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every element specifically listed within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “at least one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

It should also be understood that, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, in any methods claimed herein that include more than one step or act, the order of the steps or acts of the method is not necessarily limited to the order in which the steps or acts of the method are recited.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitional phrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03. 

We claim:
 1. A case for a portable electronic device (PED), the PED having a back side, a display side, and at least one digital imaging device, the case comprising: a base panel having a front and a back surface and sides attached to a perimeter of the base panel, wherein the front surface of the base panel is adapted to engage the back side of the PED and the sides are adapted to engage a perimeter of the PED, and a note-recording medium, wherein the note-recording medium is remove ably attachable to the case, further wherein the note-recording medium has a first surface and an opposing second surface, at least one of which can receive a written indicia, further wherein in an attached mode, one of the first and the second surface of the note-recording medium is disposed adjacent the back surface of the case and the other of the first and the second surface of the note-recording medium is exposed in a manner to receive the written indicia.
 2. The case of claim 1, wherein the back side of the base panel includes two or more guide rails and the removeably attachable note-recording medium is slidably engageable with the two or more guide rails.
 3. The case of claim 2, wherein at last one of the at least two guide rails has an end-stop.
 4. The case of claim 1, wherein the note-recording medium is reusable and washable.
 5. The case of claim 1, further comprising a removeably attachable protective panel configured to cover at least 50% of the exposed surface of the note-recording medium when both are in an attached mode.
 6. The case of claim 1, wherein the note-recording medium covers at least 75% of the surface area of the back side of the base panel in the attached mode.
 7. The case of claim 1, further comprising a hook and a loop fastener respectively connected to the case and the note-recording medium.
 8. The case of claim 1, wherein the case and the note-recording medium respectively contain a magnetic material for magnetically attaching the note-recording medium to the case.
 9. The case of claim 1, wherein the case and the note-recording medium respectively include one or more snap-fit buttons for attaching the note-recording medium to the case.
 10. The case of claim 1, wherein the note-recording medium has marker indicia that identify a note-recording region on the note-recording medium.
 11. A case to receive a portable electronic device, the portable electronic device having a back side, a display side, and at least one digital imaging device, the case comprising: a base panel on a portable electronic device and a noting panel, wherein the base panel includes side panels receiving the portable electronic device, and a back panel with the inside of the back panel receiving the back side of the portable electronic device and the outside of the back panel facing away from the portable electronic device; a noting panel removeably attached to the case, configured to have an attached and a detached mode, the noting panel including, a first surface, capable of accepting writing, a second surface on the other side of the first surface, wherein in the attached mode, the noting panel is securely attached to the case and is located on the display side of the portable electronic device, and wherein in the detached mode, the first surface is exposed and able to accept noting and image capture from the at least one digital imaging device.
 12. The case of claim 11, wherein the removeably attached noting panel is slidably attached to the back outside of the base panel of the case with two or more guide rails, wherein at least two of the at least two guide rails are attached to the base panel and are at or nearly parallel to each other to allow for the noting panel to be in an attached and detached mode.
 13. The case of claim 12, wherein one end of the at last two of the at least two guide rails have an end-stop to stop the noting panel from moving further in a planar direction.
 14. The case of claim 11, wherein the first surface of the noting panel is capable of accepting noting in the attached mode.
 15. The case of claim 11, wherein the second surface of the noting panel is capable of accepting writing.
 16. The case of claim 11, wherein the noting panel is reusable and washable.
 17. The case of claim 11, the case further containing a protective layer covering 50% or more of the removable noting panel.
 18. The case of claim 11, wherein the noting panel covers at least 75% of the surface area of the back side or display side of the portable electronic device.
 19. The case of claim 11, wherein the noting panel is attached to the case with hook and loop fasteners, the fastener halves being attached to the noting panel and to the case.
 20. The case of claim 11, wherein the case contains magnetic material and the noting panel is magnetically attached to the case.
 21. The case of claim 11, wherein the noting panel contains one or more snap-fit buttons and is attached to the case with snap-fit buttons attached to the case.
 22. The case of claim 11, wherein the noting panel has marker indicia that a digital camera can recognize to capture the boundary of drawings encompassed by the noting panel. 